


Family Dinner

by TheOriginalLovelace



Series: Femslash Yuletide 2013 (2020) [5]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Femslash Yuletide, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Holidays, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:01:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalLovelace/pseuds/TheOriginalLovelace
Summary: This wasn't how it was supposed to go.(aka the Core Four have Christmas dinner and nothing goes according to plan)
Relationships: Evie/Mal (Disney)
Series: Femslash Yuletide 2013 (2020) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036977
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Family Dinner

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

When Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos had first arrived in Auradon and heard of the traditional family meal, they'd laughed it off. Because they had no concept of, well, any of it, really. On the Isle, family was something to be avoided at all costs and dinner was just another haphazard meal of whatever they managed to scrape together, assuming they even found enough to qualify as a meal.

But Auradon has a way of changing things, changing perspectives, and after living here for nearly four months, suddenly the idea of gathering together to share a special meal sounds, well, not so bad.

So as winter break rolls around to usher in the holiday season - yet another thing for which the VK's have no real concept - settles over Auradon, the Core Four make plans to have a special meal together to celebrate what will, hopefully, be the first of many happy holiday celebrations. Traditions the AK's take for granted have little meaning to them, so they don't know _exactly_ what they're meant to do but they have each other and, well, that's the most important thing, isn't it?

They do, in their own ways, reach out to some of the friends they've made here for ideas, though. So they have some traditional things in store, like turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. But they also have popcorn and strawberries - at Evie's insistence and much to Mal's quiet joy - and what probably constitutes as an unhealthy amount of chocolate.

And it's going great...until Mal all but sets Auradon Prep's kitchen on fire while making the turkey and suddenly nothing is going right and, Lucifer help her, but this is going to be a _disaster_ and she just doesn't know if she can bear to see the disappointment on her friends faces. Carlos will get quiet and sad and Jay will act like he doesn't care but the smirk won't reach his eyes, and Evie, oh Evie will be _crushed_. And they'd all worked so hard, from decorating the common room to gathering the necessities - they'd even gotten permission from Fairy Godmother! - and now it was ruined. All because Mal couldn't figure out how to cook a stupid bird.

And things may be different in Auradon but Mal is still Mal so, when it becomes clear that there's nothing she can do to fix the mess she's made, she runs. She doesn't go far, really, just retreats to the room she shares with Evie, taking shelter from her failure beneath her girlfriend's signature-blue covers without a moment's hesitation. 

And she stays there, burrowed beneath sheets that smell like apples, for what feels like a long time - but is, in reality, only about half an hour - before a soft knock on the door makes her still. 

"Mal?" The door creaks open and she curls further into her self-appointed shame-shelter. Because it's Evie. Of course it is.

Mal sighs. "Hey E."

The bed dips and she tugs the edges of the blanket closer, just in case Evie gets any ideas about trying to pull them away. It's what Jay would do, probably what she would do too, but she doesn't actually think Evie will. Her girlfriend's always been a little nicer than the rest of them, though. Well, most of the time, anyway.

"So, what's the plan, M?" she asks casually, as if finding her hiding in a pile of bedsheets is in any way normal. "Just stay here all night, hope no one notices?"

Okay, so maybe she hadn't thought this through. But, then, that's Mal all over, isn't it? Always rushing ahead, full throttle, holding nothing back. Sometimes it works in her favor, like when she fumbled her way through confessing her feelings to Evie just after Ben's coronation. Sometimes, like now, it results in nothing but a huge mess. 

She wriggles around until her eyes peek out, searching Evie's face from her place in the dark. "Maybe it is," she says, though her voice lacks bite.

"Well, it's not your _best_ plan," Evie begins, lips pursed in thought before splitting into a mischievous grin that has Mal's lips curving to match. "But it's not your worst plan, either."

Mal frowns, eyes narrowed to slits of glowing green, and knocks her shoulder against Evie's hip. "Rotten."

The other girl laughs and knocks her back, grinning down at her. "To the Core," she says. "So...you ready to come back yet?"

She sighs. "I dunno, E. I really messed up this time."

"Come on, Mal, it's us. Do you really think we care if everything isn't perfect?"

She scoffs. "I think you'll care when there's nothing to eat for dinner."

"Okay, so maybe there won't be turkey," Evie says with an elegant wave of her hand. "But all the sides are still good, Carlos even managed to salvage the gravy you were making. And Jay may or may not have 'acquired' some things from the holiday market in town." She stood, smoothing her skirt down as she went. "But, I mean, if you'd rather stay up here, all alone, I won't stop you. And, maybe, if you ask nicely, I'll even save you some of the pie I made."

She inches towards the mouth of her blanket cave, suspicious and excited all at once. "Is it apple?"

Evie smiles and holds out her hand. "Why don't you come see for yourself?"

And Mal, well, she's never been able to say no to Evie. So she crawls out from under the blankets and takes her hand, letting her girlfriend pull her to her feet and back to their friends, their _family_.

It isn't perfect and certainly not very traditional. The garlands are a little on the droopy side and the table looks sort of lopsided without a turkey sitting in the middle. But the varied assortment of dishes - tracing their origins to all over the territories - Jay found at the holiday market and Carlos' homemade Christmas lights and Evie's warm smile, to say nothing of her stupidly good apple pie, more than make up for anything that might be missing.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go...but, maybe, that's not a bad thing after all.


End file.
